We GET to live this life

When the responsibilities of life control what we HAVE to do, how much time and energy do we have left for what it is that we WANT to do?

One of the biggest energy drainers in our day is when we focus our attention and essentially our energy on everything we HAVE to do.

If we let our thoughts and words continue down this rabbit hole of “I have to do…” then emotions, such as frustration, irritation, annoyance, resentment and even self-pity arise – causing us to stay stuck in the story of our life.

This will lead to dissatisfaction with our life, our job, our relationships and eventually ourselves.

When we experience dissatisfaction with our life, it gets harder and harder to do our best or show up as our best selves. Our energy gets depleted and we have nothing left for the things we really want to do.

This is a vicious circle that no one wants to be stuck in, yet many of us are.  

Life is full of responsibilities and there is no way of getting away from that

However, we can change the way we view all our responsibilities. We can change the way we speak about our day and our duties and responsibilities.

We just need to venture into our mind and re-program it with a simple mind-hack

If you work a job or are in a current situation that you dislike – this mind hack can lead you in the direction of finding something you like better. If that is not going to happen because you have multiple reasons and excuses ready to explain to me why – then this mind hack can help you tolerate and eventually even help you enjoy your current job, situation or life responsibilities that you love to hate.

Solutions do not arise when we are stuck in the negative loop of our minds

Why?

Because we are stuck in the problem

Solutions arise once we allow ourselves to step out of the problem

This means;

• we do our best to get out of our head 
• we do our best to slow down the mind-chatter 
• we do our best to change the chatter

These last 3 weeks we have dove into Don Miguel Ruiz “The Four Agreements” and even though I know for sure that consciously practicing these agreements WILL create powerful positive change in your life – they are not easy to practice or easy to incorporate into our lives.

The fourth agreement is “Always do your best” and when we consciously practice this agreement – the other three agreements can begin to become habits in our life.

These weekly Tap In’s and daily intention setting practices will help set us up to

“Always do our best.”

This requires action

Consciously always doing our best is the action required in any and every situation

What is our best?

Do you know what your best is?

Doing our best changes in every moment…

Doing our best when we are feeling sad will be different than when we are feeling happy. Doing our best when we are feeling energized will be different than when we are feeling drained.

What if we are feeling sad and drained more often than we are feeling happy and energized?

Well, then a “mind hack” is required…

This particular mind hack will;

• allow you to see things differently.
• allow you to feel better about where you are.
• allow you to feel better about what you are doing (or about to do)
• allow your energy to rise.
• allow you to take action and authentically do your best.

Years ago when I started on my own personal spiritual journey, I noticed how often I said the words “I HAVE to” and I also noticed how I felt whenever I said them. I felt exhausted before even starting my day. I loved my job, I loved my kids and of course there was a list of responsibilities I didn’t love, but I had no energy or inspiration to do any of it.

I knew I needed something to change

I started practicing switching my words from “I have to” to “I get to” and even though at first it felt like I was lying to myself – I couldn’t deny that it felt better to say “I get to”

It felt better because it shifted how I was seeing my responsibilities.

Within a few days I began to feel my entire energy shift.

Of course it was easier to shift when I said “I GET to go to work today” (because I loved what I did) and it was not as easy to shift when I said “I GET to clean the house today” but it still shifted – even just a little bit – every single time.  

I was consciously shifting my perspective and it was making a big difference on how I was feeling and how I was showing up for my day.

Over time, I could feel how I was able to change the story I was telling myself and in doing this, my energy level increased and I was inspired to do so many things better.

This practice became even more powerful for me when I heard Eckhart Tolle’s quote…

“Do I want this present moment to be my friend or my enemy?”

The first time I heard this, it made so much sense to me.

When I say “I have to do this…” I am making the current moment my enemy! I am also making myself the victim which leads to eventual resentments and self-pity along with many other self-sabotaging emotions.

In hindsight, I could see that being in the mind-space of “I have to…” created so many obstacles for me. I took so many things personally, I assumed way too much and I absolutely did not do my best.

It is hard to do our best when we are swimming in our own self-pity

I was making life way too hard for myself

On the flip side, every time I changed my words to “I GET to do this…” I made the current moment my friend! This was an act of empowerment! I was empowering myself to see everything in my life with a new set of eyes. I could now conjure up some enthusiasm and energy to take one step forward in the direction of getting something I used to dread done. With this new mind-hack, I was able to focus so much better and get the job done not only sooner but more effectively.

I found myself authentically doing my best!

Not because I had to but because I wanted to!

This was a game changer for me!!!

I believe this mind hack essentially enabled me to “turn my awareness inward”. When things in my life were not going very good, I was able to notice my words and what I was saying to myself that created the story I was telling.

Once I began consciously and continuously using the phrase “I get to…” in my life, I started to see all the other agreements as do-able.

I was able to do my best every day to be impeccable with my word, not take things so personally and to drop so many of my previous assumptions and judgements.  

This of course was not without failure and this is where this 4^th agreement is so brilliant! I could be way less hard on myself because I knew I was doing my best! I could see how far I had come and how my life was changing in front of my eyes. The physical world around me didn’t appear to be changing much at first but my inner world was and what I was experiencing inward was profoundly different. It wasn’t long before my outer circumstances began to change for the better too.

These agreements work!

Be patient with yourself and this process

First begin by becoming aware of how often you say “I have to…” and then consciously shift it to “I get to…” See how that changes the emotions you are feeling inward.

PLAY with this! Have fun with it!

Notice the subtle shifts and new awareness’s within as you adopt this mind hack!

This week’s intention;

This week we set our intention every morning to shift our mind chatter from “I have to…” to “I get to…”

This requires awareness

Let’s start our day in the right direction by saying and writing down a few intentions…

1. Today, I GET to… (fill in the blank)

And since we are “choosing” how we are showing up in our day, let’s take it a step further by intending to do whatever it is we GET to do today (or in this moment) with some enthusiasm (and if enthusiasm is too strong of a word – here are some different options below)

“I get to do it with…”

• Kindness
• Enthusiasm
• Gratitude/appreciation
• Love
• Harmony
• Ease
• Curiosity
• Interest
• Courage
• A smile
• Confidence
• An open mind
• (with)out complaining

Let’s make as many moments in our day – our friend!

Let’s set the daily intention to do our best in every moment, by choosing to show up because we WANT to and not because we HAVE to. Let’s make the conscious choice to live our best life.

We are all Souls on this Earth, having a human experience.

Let’s change those words to…

We are all Souls on this Earth, ENJOYING our human experience.

 Have an amazing week!!

If you are interested in private coaching sessions with Leslie;

Call or text 780 722-3442 or email leslie@wellnessdefined.ca

Namaste;

Now…let’s tap this in…